I am an architect,
They call me a butcher,
I am a pioneer,
They call me primitive,
I am purity,
They call me perverted,
Holding you but I only miss these things when they leave,

I am idiot drug hive,
The virgin, the tattered and the torn,
Life is for the cold made warm and they are just lizards,
Self disgust is self-obsession honey and I do as I please,
A morality obedient only to be cleansed repented,

I am stronger than Mensa, miller and mailer,
I spat out Plath and Pinter,
I am all the things that you regret,
A truth that washes that learnt how to spell,

The first time you see yourself naked you cry,
Soft skin now acne,
Foul breath so broken,
He loves me truly this mute solitude I'm draining,
I know I believe in nothing but it is my nothing,

Sleep cannot hide thoughts splitting through my mind,
Shadows aren't clean, false mirrors too many people awake,
If you stand up like a nail then you will be knocked down,
I've been too honest with myself I should have lied like everybody else.

I am stronger than Mensa, miller and mailer,
I spat out Plath and Pinter,
I am all the things that you regret,
A truth that washes that learnt how to spell,

47 Comments

General CommentIt's a song about finding some kind of superiority on all the pain u have put yourself through. People call you a butcher but u feel like you are creating some beautiful. People call you a primitive when it's really you who just knows better. People say you are disgusting sick when you feel like you are clean and pure because of what you have done. Raising yourself above all these really intelligent ppl plath pinter mensa and miller and just feeling better than everything. It's a euphoric feeling you've lost all this weight you've got this discipline this power and control you are better than them all. He feel he is all the things you regret everything u never want to see. But it's just like yes I'm better than this I'm better than you I am everything. I know not all the lyrics are about that a lot of it's about self disgust too. But it's just I feel that's what the song get's at in certain places.

General CommentI think this song (the greatest of all time, in my humble opinion) is done from the alternating points of view of the main characters in 1984.

-The first four lines are Winston's opinions of the party (please read the book if you don't know what I'm talking about)
-The next four are Julia ('I am idiot drug-hive, the virgin...' - she was a member of the junior anti sex league, and '....I do as i please' - she often had sex with party members, including Winston, against the party's plan)
-The chorus could be Winston and Julia in unison or just Winston.
-The next two lines, 'The first time you see yourself/Naked you cry/Soft skin now acne/Foul breath so broken' are O'Brien's interoggation of Winston.
-'He loves me truly....' is Julia
-'I know I believe in nothing but it is my nothing.' The song's most famous line is Winston's despair at what the party thinks of him - that his opinions aren't valid and worthless.
-Next four are again Winston, even in his dreams he was plauged by the past.
-Repeat chorus
-'So damn easy to cave in...' is self-explanotory. it's not anyone in 1984, but just one of Richey's own sentiments.

General CommentHey, that 1984 theory was finger-licking goodness! :)
Since 'Life becoming a landslide' and 'Too cold here' Mention birth as first in a line of traumatic events 'The first time you see yourself naked you cry' can also be refered to the cries of a newborn..
But more significantly, it also refers to the way a teenager re-discover their body.

General CommentThis song is one of the most songs the Manics have done. My interpretation of it is Richey saying to the rest of the world "Fuck you, it's MY life, I'll live it how I please, you have no say in it" and I think everyone's been in a situation bfore where they've been put down for doing their own thing. Conformity is also a strong theme in this song and it gives out a message: 'Be yourself'. "I know I believe in nothing but it is my nothing" is Richey saying that, yes, he is a depressing person but that's just who he is and nothing will change that. "Life is for the cold made warm and they are just lizards" is about how some people are only happy when they "fit in" or change who they are. The last line speaks of how easy it is to follow the crowd but you will never be truly happy if you do.

General CommentOpening quote is John Hurt from the film 1984, differs slightly from the quote in the book. Names in the song:
Mensa - High IQ society
Miller - Arthur (?) Playwrite, married Marilyn Monroe
Pinter - Harold, another playwrite. This song has the same crazed feel, and paranoia as his work, especially 'The Birthday Party'.

General CommentSylvia Plath was an author and a poet, she wrote The Belljar, one of Richey's favourite books, and soon after it's publication she committed suicide. The book is about a girls breakdown, she self-harms and attempts suicide.

General CommentNorman Mailer: A contreversial american novelist, who wrote non-fiction in the style of novels, as well as writing screenplays and other works.

One of my favourite set of lyrics from the manics, especially the lines "if you stand up like a nail then you will be knocked down. i've been too honest with myself i should have lied like everybody else". Very much delving into Richey's depressing outlook on life in general.
The title of faster, according to Nicky Wire, is about the speeding up of society in general, from the much slower pace of life that people used to lead. interestingly though, it has been suggested that the title is once again referring to anorexia, faster being a person going without food. whether that's a coincedence or not i don't know. much of he song does seem to be about a lack of self worth, and the first line "i am an architect, they call me a butcher" may be about how differently people percieve his self harm to how he does.
But it's a great song, incredibly intense to listen to.

General CommentI always think the first few lines refer to communism, which is what the Manics believe (or believed) in. It could be about how they believe they are creating something great (I am an architect) but how most in the west revile it (they call me a butcher) and so forth.
As for the rest of it, I've never been able to even hazard a guess what it could possibly be about!

General CommentI think MissD pretty much said it all. This song has to be my favorite at the moment. So tense and amazing. The lyrics to me means that one should sort of consider the weaknesses you have as strengths. The first verse is probably a description of Richey and his situation. He felt that he was a creator, while others said what he was doing was destroying. He felt that he was a pioneer who explored and was a special person who went his own ways to discover himself, but because of that people claimed him to be primitive. And he thought himself as someone clean, while others found him obscure and what not... All of this sort of introduces the rest of the song; he is a pioneer for his own life, and he starts seeing things the way they really are, something the majority often doesn't.